This East Village artist
explores the ‘power’ of
letters in your life
BY BOB KRASNER
You’re either on the bus or
you’re off the bus, they
used to say in the 60s.
Michelle Joni is defi nitely on, as
the vehicle that she has christened
“Glinda the Good Bus,” has
replaced a fi xed address as her
primary shelter.
Relying on friends for amenities
such as showers, she has been
living on her 21 foot long bus full
time since May.
Glinda has been lately parked
in front of the Modern Love Club
in the East Village, where Ms.
Joni has installed a pop-up shop
L-R Mike Schwab, Michelle Joni prepare to head to Avenue A.
celebrating a system of her own
devising called “AlphabetiX”.
While astrology is everywhere
and numerology is familiar term,
AlphabetiX has only recently seen
the light of day after a fi ve-year
gestation period. Joni describes
the operation as a way to “enrich
your life with symbology that summons
your inner child wisdom.”
In other words, she uses the
alphabet, beginning with your
“Power Letters,” to “synchronize
your inner self with others … discover
your creativity and power
… and wake people up to their
inner code.”
Through the four days of the
pop-up’s existence, Joni danced
on the sidewalk, encouraged
passersby to make art and did alphabet
oriented readings for walkin
fi rst timers. Elise from Brooklyn
wasn’t totally sold, but she didn’t
completely dismiss it either.
“I’m not sure that I believe
in this, but she sure does!” said
Elise.
Sam, a writer, was intrigued.
“It was a really interesting way to
contextualize yourself,” he mused.
His friend Virat noted that “it
changed one’s relationship to letters
in a way that you don’t stop
to think about.”
To further celebrate this unlocking
of the alphabet code, she
drove the bus at the end of each
day to, consecutively, Avenues A,
B, C and D, stopping to perform
for the random crowds. Joining
her on top of the bus on various
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
days were The White Roses,
Heather Mo’Witz, Jantina, Special
Head and Paperboy Prince.
Joni performed an original
number on Avenue A entitled
“Letters are Better,” but technical
glitches (and a fi ght on the street
below) cut things short.
AlphabetiX is pretty much the
tip of the iceberg when it comes
to Joni’s endeavors. Although she
studied child education and fashion
merchandising and had a corporate
gig until a year ago, she describes
herself as a “creator of philosophy,
events and magic, a bus mama and
a space transformer.”
She is also a visual artist, singer/
songwriter, actress, performance
artist and, incidentally, an
unoffi cial candidate for president.
She’s running as a representative
of “The Surprise Party” and her
license plate reads “JONI2020”.
There’s a website – JONI2020.
us – but she’s not exactly been
proactive about it.
Even though she may not make
it to the White House, Joni does
not lack ambition and she is
happy to lay out her goals.
“My intention is to synchronize
humanity,” she states. “I want
people to have a new expansive
Michelle Joni in her 21 foot
long home.
framework for discovering themselves
– to be able to self-navigate,
to be their own guru. My work
is helping people discover their
creativity and power and the
alphabet is a tool for that.”
Joni hands us a workbook
that she created to help explain
“Letter Consciousness ” and how
letters are a “more feminine ”
system than our current number
obsessed patriarchy. She then
goes on to list some examples of
her readings, including the young
couple whose letters added up to
an impending marriage. Pondering
Michelle Joni, creator of
AlphabetiX, in the window
of her pop-up shop at the
Modern Love Club
the results of that reading, she
concedes that her conclusions are
not always the fi nal answer.
“It could mean something or it
could mean nothing,” she states.
” That’s how life is.”
For more info on Michelle
Joni and her various endeavors,
you can fi nd her on Facebook
and follow her on instagram @
michellejoni, @_alphabetix_ and
@alphabetricks.
Along for the ride (L-R) Jantina, V.V. Valentine (in the panda
mask) , The White Roses (Bert and Sarah), Special Head, Otis
M . Karson, Edward Pankov, Michelle Joni, Mike Schwab
Schneps Media August 27, 2020 13